


Overflowing Brightness

by whatisthisautumnsorcery



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, I know that summary is ridiculous but this is a serious fic i swear!, also the title is a line from the Exo song Lightsaber, which is basically The Reylo Song lets be honest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-27 02:15:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6265636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatisthisautumnsorcery/pseuds/whatisthisautumnsorcery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One evening Rey finds a very interesting piece of garbage on Jakku. That piece of garbage turns out to be none other than Kylo Ren.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kylo Ren looked out over the sand dunes of Jakku, his eyes searching for any sign of civilisation. The moon was high in the night sky, and he could hear the sound of sand critters scurrying about, but he could see no campfire light.

 

“Are you sure this is the place” he asked the stormtrooper closest to him. He had landed his ship on this godforsaken sand planet in search of Lor San Tekka, the man who held the final key to finding Skywalker.

 

“Yes Sir. According to the coordinates that the General gave us, this is where Lor San Tekka’s village should be.”

 

“The General is wrong. I can sense no human life forms for miles.” Kylo Ren walked away from the stormtrooper to the top of the low sand ridge, trying to calm his temper. This was clearly a fool’s errand and a complete waste of his time.

 

He was about to order his crew back to the ship when he felt it.

 

 _Light_.

 

Pure, overwhelming _light_.

 

It called to him, calmed him. He had never felt anything like it before, as if he had finally found the thing he had been searching for his whole life.

 

A sense of malice behind him pulled him out of his daze. He turned around to see that all the stormtroopers had taken up their blasters and had aimed them directly at him.

 

They fired.

 

He stopped some shots in mid air and went to ignite his lightsaber but he wasn’t fast enough. One shot went straight through his shoulder. He lost his balance and fell to his knees, dropping his unignited lightsaber in the sand.

 

The stormtrooper in the middle broke formation and walked towards him. The pain in his shoulder, along with the shock of being betrayed by his own men, left him stunned and he could only watch as the stormtrooper removed his helmet to reveal a stern face and a shock of orange hair.

 

“You won’t be needing this” General Hux said as he picked up the discarded lightsaber off the ground. Before he could reply, Hux kicked him in his injured shoulder, causing him to fall over the side of the ridge.

 

Hitting his head on the way down, Kylo Ren was swallowed up by the darkness.

 

 

***

 

 

Deciding to let Kylo Ren’s death be a slow one, Hux ordered the crew back to the ship. Later that night they returned to Starkiller Base, where Hux gave Snoke the tragic news of his apprentice, saying that some of the stormtroopers had not been conditioned thoroughly enough, and as a group had turned against the First Order. He assured Snoke that the offending stormtroopers would be dealt with severely.

 

Hux smirked as he left his meeting with Snoke. The useless magician that he had finally lost his patience with was gone, and now he would be able to take his rightful and unrivalled place as the Supreme Leader’s second in command.

 

His plan had worked perfectly.

 

 

***

 

 

 

Rey sighed as she climbed onto her speeder. Another day of hard work had rewarded her with nothing but a tired body and barely enough food to make a meal. She started up the engine and began to fly across the endless sand to the place she lived.

 

She would never call it _home_. It would never be that.

 

The sun was starting to set, turning the sky to a deep purple. Twilight was her favourite part of the day. It was the peaceful time between the unrewarding scavenging of day and the solitary restlessness of night.

 

Rey slowed her speeder. She had driven along this area countless times in her life but this time something felt different. Something was calling to her. Darkness? Sadness?

 

She allowed the feeling to direct her a few metres away to a ridge. Rey could see prints in the ground and could tell that a spacecraft had landed here. It looked like the crew had gotten out, walked around and then returned to the craft and left. Rey was about to turn her speeder around and continue on her way when she saw a dark substance on the sand.

 

It was blood.

 

She jumped off her speeder and ran towards the edge of the low ridge, peering over the side. At the bottom was a figure, clothed all in black and lying motionless.  

 

She hurried down the ridge face as fast as she could, stumbling and sliding through the sand. Reaching the figure she turned them over. There was blood all around their shoulder but they were still alive; she could see the slight rise and fall of the person’s chest.

 

She couldn’t see their face because they were wearing an odd silver and black metal helmet. At first she thought the creature might have needed it to breath in this atmosphere, but after looking at it Rey realised that not only was it not attached to a tank of some kind, it had no connections for such a thing. Rey decided to remove the helmet to see if the person was conscious. Finding the release button, Rey gently lifted the creature’s helmet off their head.

 

Black hair spilled out onto the sand as Rey took in the man’s face. He was only young, maybe in his late twenties, with a soft kind face. She was shocked to realise that she thought he was beautiful.

 

Pushing away the thought she shook him gently, trying to wake him. Who was he, and why had he been left for dead? What in the galaxy had he done to deserve a slow lonely death like this?

 

Relief flooded over Rey as the man groaned and slowly opened his eyes. They were dark, like his hair, and gentle, making his face seem even kinder.

 

The man tried to sit up but pain lanced through his shoulder and he groaned again, laying back down onto the sand. Fear flashed across his face.

 

“It’s ok. You’re going to be ok. I’m going to help you.” Her words seemed to calm him slightly. “I’m Rey. What’s your name?”

 

He looked up at her, confused.

 

“Ben.” He said hesitantly. “I think my name is Ben.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first multi chapter fic so I hope anybody who reads it enjoys it! Also I'm pretty sure that Kylo couldn't be taken down by a few stormtroopers because he is too badass but shhhhhhh just go with it!! :D


	2. Chapter 2

“Do you have a last name Ben?” Rey asked. She didn’t have one herself but everyone else seemed to.

“Yes, but I don’t know what it is.” Ben replied. “I can’t remember anything. Who I am, where I’m from!” Rey could tell that he was starting to panic. He tried to get up again but failed. He clearly couldn’t put any weight on his whole arm.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure your memories will come back soon. You’ll probably wake up tomorrow and remember exactly who you are!” Again, her words seemed to calm him. “Here, let me help you up.”

Rey helped Ben to sit up and then knelt beside him, giving him her water flask. Unfortunately there wasn’t much water left for Ben to drink.  “I’m sorry, it’s all I have.”

“That’s ok. Thank you.” Ben drank what was left and returned the now empty flask to her. She moved behind him and tried to look at his injury, but it was covered in blood and sand.

“What’s wrong with my it?” he asked, looking behind him at her.

“It looks like you’ve been shot. Or stabbed. Its hard to tell.” Rey replied. She wanted to bandage it but she didn’t have supplies for this sort of injury with her, they were all at her AT-AT.

“What?” He sounded surprised. He must have thought he had just dislocated it or something. He touched his shoulder and winced. He looked at the blood on his glove, just barely visible in the fading light. “Why would someone shoot me?”

“I don’t know.” Rey’s reply seemed to linger in the air as Ben looked at her, lost and confused. She had no answers for him. She was starting to wonder again what he had done. Was he betrayed by someone, or was he the betrayer and someone had tried to get their revenge?

It was starting to get dark now. She needed to get him somewhere safe. It was not good to be outside at night on Jakku, especially when injured.

Rey moved to sit next to him again. “I guess there is no point in me asking if you live around here, I mean from your clothing and the fact that you seem to have come here by starship I’d say you are not from around here.”

“A starship?”

“Yes. Up there are prints in the sand left by a ship” Rey pointed to the top of the ridge. This only seemed to make Ben even more confused.

“So where am I exactly?” he asked, looking around the nearly dark landscape. He was probably looking for lights, any signs of a small town or city. Rey knew that all he would find was sand and more sand.

“You’re on Jakku.”

“Jakku?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know of any Jakku…but then again I can’t remember the names of any planets at the moment.” He smiled at her grimly. Was he joking with her? She had no idea. No one had ever joked around with her before.

He must have noticed her confused expression. “Sorry I was trying to be funny.”

“Oh. I see.” Silence fell over them again.

“Is there someone nearby who can bandage my shoulder? A doctor maybe?” Ben asked.

_No_ , Rey thought sadly. If she took him to Niima Outpost she knew that no one would help him. They would just take his helmet for scraps and leave him for dead. However taking him to her AT-AT seemed like a stupid and very dangerous idea. She didn’t know who this man was, or what he was capable of. But then again she could take care of herself and he was injured, and for some reason she knew he was no threat to her…

“No one here will be willing to help you, not unless you can pay them well. You can stay at my place for a while instead. I have bandages at my house. Wait here and I’ll go and bring my speeder down here.”

Rey stood up and climbed back up the ridge. She should have brought her staff with her to help her but she had been in a hurry. It didn’t matter though, because she was nimble and was used to climbing her way through unstable sand.

She brought her speeder down to Ben and lowered it as far down to the ground as it would go, without having to turn the engine off. She hopped down and knelt beside Ben.

“Do you think you can walk? You don’t have any other injuries do you?”

“Yes I think I can walk, if you could just help me up?”

Rey put Ben’s good arm around her shoulder and helped him to stand. He was so heavy, and at his full height he was so much taller than her.

She let go of his arm and he instantly started using it to cradle his injured one. “Thank you Rey.”

She smiled at him but she didn’t know if he had seen it, as it was almost pitch black now. She grabbed his helmet and then they started to walk towards the speeder. She helped him up, put his helmet into her net and then climbed onto the speeder herself.

Slightly embarrassed, she told him to put his arms around her so he wouldn’t fall off. Gently he wrapped his arms around her waist, wincing from the pain in his shoulder. She noticed that he kept his body as far away from her as he could.

She started the speeder and they flew off through the darkness. They soon arrived at the old AT-AT where Rey lived. She jumped off the speeder, followed closely by Ben. She took her staff, quarter portion and Ben’s helmet from the netting. She knew the helmet belonged to Ben but she couldn’t stop thinking about how many portions she could get for it.

“Why are we stopping here?” he asked, looking at the huge mechanical beast.

“This is where I live.” She replied, not looking away from her task.

“You live here? In this thing?”

“Yes.”

“With your family?”

“No.”

“Where does your family live?”

“I don’t know. One day I’ll find out though, when they come to get me.” She didn’t know why but Ben’s questioning suddenly stopped. She hoped he wasn’t pitying her. She didn’t need his or anyone’s pity.

She led him to an entrance to the AT-AT and put her stuff on the thin bedding on the floor and then went outside again to start a small fire for light, so as she could bandage Ben’s wound. After she got the fire started she went back into the dark AT-AT to grab some supplies. Luckily the gaps and holes in the side of the AT-AT allowed moonlight to filter through, giving her some light to see with.

Ben stood silently watching her as she moved about, gathering up cloth, bandages, two flasks of water, a flask of alcohol and a knife. Even though she was saving it for herself, Rey grabbed a bacta patch that she had found well hidden in an old wreckage, deciding that Ben needed it more. She placed everything out in front of the fire and beckoned for Ben to come and sit in front of her. She gave Ben one of the flasks of water, which he drank gratefully.

“I’ll bandage your wound as best as I can. This is probably going to hurt, I’m really sorry.”

Ben nodded. “That’s ok.”

She removed his cloak while he undid his belt, and then she got the knife and started to cut the fabric of his outer tunic. She helped Ben take the heavy thick material off himself, making sure he didn’t have to move his shoulder too much. Underneath was another long sleeved tunic that covered his neck. She cut through this layer as well but decided to leave the last layer, as it was just a sleeveless black top that didn’t cover his wound.

She cleaned his wound first with water, then alcohol. She could feel herself blushing as she applied the bacta patch, and was grateful that Ben couldn’t see her face. She thought he had a beautiful body. He was tall and lean, and his arms were toned, the result of regular training of some sort. She also quickly admired his hair, which was thick and wavy and was a dark contrast against his pale skin.

Ben thanked her as she started to clean up. She cut the bloodied pieces of fabric from his clothing and threw them on the fire, along with the cloths she had used to clean his wound. Seeing what she was doing, Ben threw his bloodied gloves on the fire as well.

Rey used a bit of water and cloth to clean the knife and then sterilised it in the flames. Before she took everything inside, she used one last piece of fabric to fashion a sling for Ben’s arm.

When she came back outside a few minutes later she had their meal all ready. Unfortunately it was barely enough for one person, but it was all she had.

They ate in silence, both staring at the fire. She assumed that Ben was too tired to talk now, he looked drained and pale. She doubted the minor manoeuvring he had to do to get out of his heavy black clothes had done his shoulder much good.

When they had finished eating, she led him back inside and gave him half of her bedding, laying the cloth on the opposite side of the small space. They said goodnight and when she came back inside after putting the fire out, Ben was in a deep sleep.

Rey lay down on her bedding, and stared at Ben. She could just barely see his face in the soft moonlight. He looked pained, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of his shoulder, bad dreams or both.

She clutched her staff closer to her, a she did every night, and lay there in the knowledge that yet another night of broken sleep awaited her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently they call them "starships" not "space crafts" so I had to change that for this chapter. Also I know that I've deviated from what his outfit is actually like but I had to have him dressed like this http://whatisthisautumnsorcery.tumblr.com/post/142059165702/hardyness-adam-drivers-training-for-his-kylo because of reasons!


	3. Chapter 3

Ben was awoken the next morning by someone gently shaking him. He opened his eyes to see Rey kneeling beside him. The sun hadn’t started to rise yet so he couldn’t see her very well in the darkness.

“How are you Ben?”

“I’ve been better.” His shoulder was aching constantly and his head was sore. He was starting to wonder if the bump on his head was the source of his memory loss.

“I have to go and I won’t be back until sunset. I’ve put some water in this for you.” she showed him a flask and put it beside his bedding.

“Thank you Rey.” He smiled at her, and she shyly smiled back. He must have said ‘thank you’ to her ten times last night.

“Goodbye”. She stood up, grabbed her staff and was gone. He lay there listening as she started the engine of her speeder and flew away. She didn’t say where she was going but he assumed it was to wherever she worked.

He lay there trying to remember anything he could about himself, but he came up with nothing. After a while he closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

***

A few hours later Ben woke up, the sun high in the sky. His shoulder was no better, but at least he felt rested.

He sat up and stretched, looking around Rey’s home.

It was basically a small metal hovel, decorated with even more metal. Knick knacks lined the shelves, with a dead desert flower adorning one of the tables. Light streamed in through the entrance and holes in the walls.  One wall, he noticed, was covered with notches, as she had clearly been keeping track of something. He remembered their conversation last night and realised with a sick feeling that the notches were probably all the days she had been waiting for her family to come back.

The place was cosy but it also felt sad and lonely. Why would her family just abandon her like this? After what she had done for him last night it was clear that she was a kind person. She didn’t deserve this.

He decided that when his arm was healed and he had his memories back he would do whatever he could to help her find her family, or at least get her away from this lonely place.

For the remainder of the day Ben rested and waited for Rey to come back.  
  


***

Exhaustion started to catch up to Rey as she flew back to the AT-AT. She had had to get up extra early so she had more time to scavenge. She needed to find more parts than usual today otherwise she wouldn’t have had enough to barter with to get food for both her _and_ Ben. Luckily her plan worked and she had managed to salvage enough scrap for two quarter portions.

With the AT-AT in sight she started to slow her speeder and she could see Ben sitting out the front. He stood up and waved to her. She could feel tears sting her eyes when she realised that he had been waiting for her.

She wiped the tears way. She was being ridiculous. Once Ben was better and he remembered who he was he would be on his way, and she would return to her lonely life. A life where there was no one to say goodbye to in the morning and no one to greet her when she came back.

She stopped in front of the AT-AT and turned off her speeder, surprised when Ben came up and offered his hand to help her down. She took his hand and thanked him awkwardly.

“You were gone a long time Rey, you must be tired. Sit here and I’ll make the fire this time.”

“You don’t need to do that, you’re hurt! You sit and I’ll make the fire.” Ben didn’t like that idea, and so they agreed that he would make the fire and she would get their dinner ready. In the end she had to set up the fire anyway, because despite Ben’s best efforts his bad arm hindered him too much and he didn’t get very far.

They sat in silence as they ate, watching the night as it covered the sky and chased the sun away behind them. She could feel his eyes watching her as she licked her plate and her fingers clean. She looked at him and he quickly returned his gaze to his plate. If he had a problem with the way she ate he didn’t say anything.

“So, Rey, what did you do today?” She was caught off guard by the question, mainly because she had never been asked it before.

“I searched an old wreckage for parts to trade for food.”

“Just food? What about money?”

“We trade in food here. I could only scavenge enough for two quarter portions.” She gestured to the meal they had just finished.

“You spent all day scavenging and this was all you got in return? Was today just a bad day?”

“No, today was actually a good day. Usually I can only find enough parts to earn a quarter portion. Or nothing at all.”

Ben was clearly shocked by what she had just said. Carefully he asked “How long have you lived like this?”

“About fourteen years.”

His shock quickly turned to sadness. “Rey I- ”

“So did you remember anything today?” She asked, trying to change the subject. She didn’t like seeing him sad, especially over a nobody like herself.

“No. Nothing. All I can remember is my first name and that’s it.” He leaned his head against the wall of the AT-AT and looked up at the sky, sighing. Rey couldn’t help but admire his features from this angle. He had such an interesting face. He turned to look at her and she looked down quickly, embarrassed that he had caught her staring at him.

“Maybe you were a performer?” she suggested.

“Sorry?”

“Well, its just that you were wearing that weird helmet mask thing when I found you, so maybe it was part of your costume?”  She got up and retrieved the helmet, just in case it triggered anything. Ben held it in his hands and looked at it for a while, but it didn’t help.

“Maybe I was a juggler?” he quipped.

“You were wearing all black so I’d say you were playing a villain, not a juggler.”

“No no I think that I was definitely a juggler, maybe an _evil_ juggler, and that I was so good at it that it almost got me killed!”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh at his nonsense. “I have a helmet too. Do you want to try it on?”

“Yes please.” 

Rey went back inside to get her X-Wing pilot helmet. It was too big for her but it fit Ben perfectly.

When he took it off he stared at it, just like he had with his own helmet. “This actually looks familiar.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I think I knew someone who had one. I think he let me wear it a lot too…” Ben stared at it for a little longer but he couldn’t remember anymore.

They sat there for quite a while, talking about different things. He asked her all sorts of questions about Jakku and Rey tried to answer them as best she could. He also asked her about each of her knick knacks, and she told him where she had found them, or how she had made them. She also told him of the more interesting things she had scavenged, and the very few times she had earned more than a quarter portion to eat.

“How much would this be worth then?” Ben asked, holding up his helmet.

“A lot. Maybe eight portions.”

“Then lets trade it in tomorrow.”

“No Ben we can’t! That’s yours! It might help you remember who you are!”

“If it didn’t help the first time I tried staring at it, it probably won’t ever trigger anything. Consider it a ‘thank you’ for saving me.” He held the helmet out towards her.

She stared at the helmet. If they took it to Unkar Plutt tomorrow then she could spend the next couple of days resting. No scavenging, just rest.

The thought was too wonderful so she took the helmet excitedly. 

Seeing her happy face Ben smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying this fic!! Its really fun to write! I'll post Chapter 4 next week sometime ^.^


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Rey and Ben headed straight for Niima Outpost. For some reason it didn’t feel awkward sitting on the speeder with his arms around Rey’s waist. He fought the urge to pull her closer against him, to rest his head on her shoulder…

Reaching the Outpost, Rey turned off her speeder and they both jumped down and headed towards the tent area. Looking around Ben could see a few ships stationed around. One of them stood out from the rest and Ben assumed that he must have seen one like it before. It definitely wasn’t the ship that had left him here, because this one had clearly been on Jakku for quite some time.

Under the tent there were humans and other aliens everywhere, going about their business. Ben followed Rey closely, looking around the busy area. It didn’t take long for him to get distracted and knock something over.

“I’m sorry.” he said to the trader, as he tried to re-stack the fallen metal objects. The alien said something angrily to Ben in a language he didn’t understand.

“What did he say?” he asked Rey.

“You don’t want to know. Come on, this way.” Rey stopped him from his task by grabbing his arm. She seemed to want to get away from the trader as quickly as possible.

She led him towards a booth with rusted wire across the opening. Behind the wire stood a man who was covered in rolls of skin. This must have been Unkar Plutt. From what Rey had told Ben about him last night, this man was scum.

After waiting for the person in front of them to finish bartering, Rey placed Ben’s helmet on the shelf. Plutt examined the helmet closely with a look of curiosity, turning it over in his giant hands. “And where did you find this Rey?”

“That’s none of your business.” Rey replied coldly. “How many portions will you give me?”

Ignoring Rey’s question, Plutt looked at Ben. “And who is this? I’ve never seen him before.”

“That is also none of your business. How many portions?”

Plutt stared at Ben intently and for far too long for Ben’s liking.

“One portion” the junkboss finally answered, returning his gaze to Rey.

“What? No! It’s worth much more than that!”

“It’s poorly made Rey, like a little kid made it.” Considering he couldn’t remember who had made his helmet, Ben didn’t know if he should have been offended by that comment or not.

“But its parts are good! They are small but they must be worth at least eight portions.”

“One portion. Take it or leave it.”

Ben didn’t know much about this planet, but what he did now know was that this _thing_ had an iron grip over everyone around here, including Rey. If Rey thought his helmet was worth eight portions, then that’s how many portions they would be leaving with…he hoped.

Before a resigned Rey could slide the four quarter packets into her satchel, Ben put his hand over hers, stopping her. He looked Plutt straight in his eyes, hoping his height would act as some form of intimidation. Without realising what he was doing, he thread his fingers through Rey’s.

“You will take this helmet and give us eight portions. Do you understand?” Ben said, putting as much command into his voice as possible. Ben and Plutt stood staring at each other for a long moment, with Ben expecting the junkboss to start laughing any second.

“I will take this helmet and give you eight portions.” Plutt finally replied with an odd look on his face and a flat tone to his voice. Plutt went and retrieved more portions, placing them next to the ones that he had already given Rey. By the time Rey looked up from staring at her and Ben’s entwined fingers, the glazed look on Plutt’s face had gone.

_Well that was weird_ , Ben thought as Rey ecstatically slid the food packets into her satchel. She grabbed his hand and pulled him after her as she ran, weaving in between the haphazard maze of people and wares, stopping a few metres away from the tent area.

“That was amazing! How did you do that?” she asked excitedly.

“I…I really don’t know.” And he really didn’t. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t think talking to the despicable creature would work, and yet it had, somehow. But the way Plutt had behaved, as if he himself had put Plutt in a trance wasn’t sitting well with him. Something was pulling at the corner of his mind, something he couldn’t quite remember…

“Well, whatever you did,” Rey smiled up at him, “thank you.”

“Anytime.” Ben smiled back at her.

Standing in the sun like this Ben couldn’t help admiring her features again. He had done the same thing last night while she was eating, until she had caught him staring at her like an idiot. She was all warmth and sunshine with her lovely smile, cat-like eyes and tanned skin.

She must have suddenly realised that she was still holding his hand because she quickly let it go.

“So what do you want to do today Rey?”

She stood there thinking for a moment before a huge smile broke across her face.

Before Ben knew it he was sitting on a square piece of starship wall at the top of a small sand hill, ready to race Rey to the bottom.

 

***

 

Unkar Plutt placed the helmet safely on a shelf at the back of his booth, far away from the parts to be traded or sold. He didn’t know why but he felt like the helmet was important.

He had made sure to memorise the boy’s face in case something came up later and any information about him could prove profitable. Judging by the boy’s dishevelled appearance and the fact that he had attached himself to a nobody like Rey, Plutt guessed that he was running away from someone. And from the look of his arm the boy’s escape hadn’t been easy.

He must be desperate too if he was willing to hide on a backwater junkyard like Jakku.

Plutt smiled. He liked desperation. Desperation made him rich.

Why Rey was helping this boy though Plutt had no idea. The girl was a solitary creature, keeping to herself and only talking to other people if it was absolutely necessary. However, thinking about how much food the helmet had gotten her, he soon understood why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a Matt the Radar Technician reference in this chapter :p
> 
> Also thank you so much for all your comments!!! I really appreciate it!!


	5. Chapter 5

With fourteen days worth of food for her and Ben in her AT-AT, Rey spent two weeks doing whatever she wanted. She rested, tinkered with mechanical parts that Plutt refused to trade food for and even cleaned out her AT-AT with Ben’s help.

 

At night they would sit around the fire and talk while Rey sewed Ben a new outfit out of the tan and brown fabric they had traded a whole portion for. Ben had tried to convince her that he didn’t need new clothing but Rey disagreed. His clothing was not suited to the heat of Jakku, he needed lighter clothing like hers and now that they had enough portions to spare she was going to make him an outfit. When he tried on the tunic and pants they thankfully fit. He looked like he belonged here now, on Jakku, with _her_.

 

_Stop_ , she reprimanded herself. _Stop thinking like that. He isn’t going to stay here with you. One day he’ll remember who he is and then he will leave and he won’t come back._

Rey didn’t know when he would regain his memories so she tried to cherish whatever time she had with him. Against her better judgement she had started to consider him her friend, and the knowledge that one day he would return to his home planet and she would never see him again filled her with dread.

On the last day before their rations ran out Rey and Ben spent the afternoon racing down sand hills again. With Ben’s shoulder completely healed they were able to now go down the bigger and steeper hills. They raced until they were exhausted, collapsing onto the soft sand at the base of one hill as the sun started to set.

 

“I think you won Rey.” Ben said as he tried to catch his breath. They had been keeping score and that final race had been the close tiebreaker.

 

“Yes!” Rey put her hands up into the air and waved them around. She wanted to get up and dance but she was too tired.  

 

Ben threw his arm over his face in mock embarrassment. “I have brought shame upon my family name... whatever the hell it is.”

 

“You still can’t remember anything?” Rey asked feeling slightly hopeful, and then ashamed of herself. Ben started to laugh.

 

Rey sat up on her elbows and looked across at him. “What? What’s so funny?”

”I had a dream last night,” Ben began, once he had stopped laughing, “about these cute furry creatures.”

 

“What’s so funny about that?”

 

“They treated me like I was some sort of Prince to them. Isn’t that ridiculous?” Ben started laughing again even louder now.

Rey sat up and shook Ben’s arm. “Ben what if this wasn’t just a dream but was also a memory?”

 

“A memory?” he looked at her questioningly.

 

“A very _distorted_ one.” She clarified.

 

Ben sat up on his elbows and she noticed that he had a wicked gleam in his eye. “No, you think I’m a Prince! Prince of the Cute Furry Creatures!”

 

“Ben I’m being serious!”

 

“That’s _Prince Ben_ to you.”

 

“How about I leave you here and you can see how you fair with the sand creatures _your majesty_.”

“Ok ok I’ll be serious.” He smiled at her and as per usual she couldn’t help smiling back.

 

“So what did these creatures look like?”

“They were covered in fur, with big round eyes. They seemed to be my height but I got the feeling that I was a child in the dream, because there were other people there too and they were much taller than me.”

 

“Do you think those people were your family?”

 

“Maybe. I couldn’t see their faces though.”

 

“What else do you remember?”

Ben looked at the ground, biting his lip as he thought. Her eyes trailed down to his lips but snapped back up quickly when she realised he was looking at her again. He looked at her curiously for what seemed like the longest moment before he finally answered her.

“We were in a forest I think. I'm not sure though, because I couldn't see very far off into the distance in the dream. Plus the furry creatures kept hugging me and blocking my view.” 

 

“A forest?” Rey’s eyes lit up. She had heard of forests from bits of conversations she had unintentionally eavesdropped on but she had never seen one for herself. At least not that she could remember. “What are forests like? Describe them to me please!”

 

“Well, forests have huge trees and green plants everywhere. Everything is green. They're beautiful.” He searched her face when he said that last part.

Rey lay back down again on the warm sand and closed her eyes, trying to picture a forest. Unfortunately she didn’t know what a tree looked like and the only plants she knew were dried desert ones. “What do trees look like?”

 

“Um,” he started, seeming a bit caught off guard by the question, “they are really thin and tall and have brown bark trunks and the tops of them are covered in branches and green leaves.”

 

“How many leaves?”

 

He chuckled. “I don’t know, it depends. Usually a lot though, enough to block out the sun and create shade.”

 

“Wow.” She replied slowly. Trees were starting to seem very magical indeed.

 

“What are you doing Rey?”

 

“Picturing trees”.

 

She heard him chuckle again, but because she still had her eyes closed she didn’t see the adoring look that passed over his face.

 

***

 

The next morning Rey and Ben got up early to start scavenging again. Ben felt like he could almost feel Rey’s sadness engulfing him. Unfortunately he had made things worse by asking her why she did her hair the same way in those three buns everyday, and she had replied that it was so her family would recognise her. He tried to think of what to say to break the awkward silence and was glad when she finally did instead by offering to do his hair in a bun too. He knew she was joking but his hair was getting longer and kept getting in his face so he took her up on the offer.

 

Because of his height he had to kneel down so Rey could reach his hair. She parted the top part and started to put it into a little bun.

 

Ben soon realised that this had been a bad idea and he tried to think of anything but the feel of her small fingers in his hair. 

 

Ever since last night he had wanted to kiss her. She was so sweet and lovely, laying there in the sand with her eyes closed, asking him all those adorable questions, her face scrunching up in concentration. And now, with her so close to him and her hands in his hair like this he wanted to turn around and lift her up in his arms and feel her lips against his.

 

This wasn’t good. He had at first thought of her only as a friend but now he thought of her in other ways. He didn’t know what she felt for him, if she felt anything at all. He thought he had seen her staring at his lips last night but it was probably just his imagination playing tricks on him. He resolved to not say anything to her. He didn’t want to make thinks awkward between them, especially when she had literally saved his life. He owed her so much.

 

Even if she did feel the same way about him, he didn’t even know who “Ben” really was, or if he already had a wife and even children as well. 

 

He assumed that he was a good person, hopefully someone deserving of Rey, but a small part of him strongly disagreed. Sometimes he could feel something dark at the back of his mind, reminding him that he needed to be elsewhere, that he was on borrowed time…

 

“There, done!” Rey stepped back and Ben stood up, his hand patting the bun.

 

“Thank you.”

“Your welcome. That will cost you a whole portion I’m afraid,” she teased him.

 

“Will a pretty rock do instead?”

 

“I guess…but it better be the prettiest rock I’ve ever seen!”

She grabbed her staff and headed out the door, Ben following right behind her. They loaded up the speeder with the supplies they needed and then climbed on. Ben had never been scavenging before, as far as he knew, and even though for Rey it was a necessity Ben was slightly excited about it. From what Rey had told him they would probably have to climb up high into the huge cavernous bodies of old mechanical warships to search for parts. It sounded amazing.

 

Rey started the engine of the speeder and they flew off, neither one of them aware that they were being watched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to update! All these projects kept coming up out of the blue and they had to be done ASAP! I have the next chapter written I just need to edit it. Also thank you so much for your lovely comments!! If I have missed any I'm really sorry I didn't mean to!


	6. Chapter 6

Ben could see the old warship long before they reached it. It was a lonely stark grey blemish on the otherwise uniform orange sand.

 

As they got closer Ben could see that it was actually at the top of a small hill. Rey stopped the speeder at the bottom and they both jumped off and started to unpack the equipment. They piled the tools and Rey’s staff onto the two pieces of starship wall that had doubled as their hill racers.

 

“Are you ready?” asked Rey, handing Ben the long piece of fabric that was tied to one of the wall pieces.

 

“I think so” he replied, taking the fabric.

 

“OK here we go”. Rey covered her mouth with her scarf and then pulled her protective goggles down over her eyes. Ben did the same with the scarf and slightly older and scratched pair of goggles that Rey had given him that morning.

 

They started to climb the sand hill, with Rey of course being able to climb much quicker than Ben. When Ben eventually made it to the top of the hill he stopped and stood in awe, feeling very small next to the massive starship.

 

“Come on,” Rey motioned with her gloved hand, her voice muffled by the cloth covering her mouth “this way.” Rey led Ben through what had been the thrusters of the starship but were now acting as an entrance to the body of the ship. Inside it was very dark with only large weak beams of light filtering through, meaning it was slightly cooler than outside, which Ben was thankful for. It was also eerily quiet, except for the sound of their own footsteps.

 

“So what am I looking for exactly?” Ben asked, breaking the silence, his deep voice echoing around the cavern.

 

“Anything that looks like a spare part really. But it needs to be in good condition. If its too damaged then I doubt I,” she stopped and looked up at him, “I mean, _we_ , can get any portions for it.”

 

Ben nodded his head. “OK”.

 

“Otherwise if you find something else worth keeping, like that bacta patch I used on your wound, then grab it.”

 

Ben’s hand mindlessly touched his shoulder. It was barely a problem for him now, but just the fact that _someone had_ _shot him_ _and left him for dead_ was still on his mind.

 

Who was he?

 

Every night as he lay there waiting to fall asleep he tried to recall anything he could like names, faces or even the planets that he might have visited, but it never worked. Did he have a family? Children? The thought that he might have children out there, somewhere, feeling like their father had abandoned them made him feel sick to his stomach. What if he could never remember who he was, or could never find anyone who did?

 

His dreams were even less helpful. Once he dreamt of just two moving lights, one blue, the other green. Another night he could see tiny rocks floating around his head. The worse dream was the one where he was standing in a red room when out of a dark corner a bolt of lightning struck him, throwing him backwards and making his whole body feel like it was on fire.

 

They stopped walking when they reached a thick piece of black rope that was hanging down from the top of the structure. “I’m going to continue looking up the top while I think you should see what you can find down here.”

 

Ben knew that Rey was just giving him busy work because she was probably worried he would strain his shoulder if he started climbing up ropes and metal walls too soon. He assumed the floor of this cavern would have been searched countless times by now, anything of worth long gone. He was happy to humour Rey for now though and then try and convince her later that his shoulder was fine and that he could be of more use to her if he helped her to search the higher levels.

 

“I’ll knock loudly on some metal so you’ll know when to meet me back here, OK?”

 

“OK. Be careful Rey.”

 

“I will.” Rey grabbed hold of the rope and started to climb. Ben watched in amazement as she quickly made her way up almost effortlessly. When she neared the top she swung on the rope and then jumped, disappearing from Ben’s view and making his heart almost stop. He probably shouldn’t have watched.

 

Ben started to look around the floors of the cavern, moving pieces of metal sheeting to see if anything was underneath.

 

He tried not to worry about her being up so high without anything to stop her from falling. _She knows what she’s doing, she’s been doing it for most of her life_ , he told himself, but it didn’t help.

 

He was starting to realise that he didn’t want to ever be without her, and it scared him. He wanted to leave this horrible place but he also wanted her and deep down he knew that he couldn’t have both. She was trapped here, waiting for her family, which meant he was trapped here too unless he could somehow convince her to leave with him.

 

He doubted he would be able to though. To her he was probably just someone that she had taken pity on and had been forced to share her food with. He was a hindrance more than anything else so why would she choose him over her own family?

 

But they had deserted her, left her here to die.

 

Left the woman he cherished to die.

 

If he ever found them, he would make them _pay_.

 

He kicked a piece of metal hard, the sound of it crashing into more metal reverberated loudly around him.

 

He stopped dead in his tracks, breathing hard. Where was this anger coming from? He hadn’t lost his temper once since Rey had found him, even though he was sick of the heat and the sun in his eyes, and he constantly wished they had much more food to eat.

 

Running his fingers through his hair he tried to calm his thoughts by thinking of the task in front of him.

 

He made his way to a large console on one of the walls of the starship. Some pieces had already bean crudely cut away in places so the person could scavenge the parts inside. Ben looked for these sorts of parts too but of course he found nothing.

 

As the day wore on he slowly made his way deeper into the starship, and as he did the more he felt like someone was watching him. He kept turning around but he never saw or heard anyone.

 

After a few more hours he started to slowly make his way back empty handed to where he was supposed to meet Rey. He was hungry and hot and was almost out of water. Halfway there he heard the sound of metal hitting metal and found Rey sitting near the rope, waiting for him. He hoped she had found something so as they could go and barter for some food.

 

“I’m sorry Rey, but I didn’t find anything.” He went and sat down next to her.

 

“Neither did I.”

 

His heart sank. “Does that mean what I think it means.”

 

“Yes. I’m afraid we won’t be eating today.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo its been a while since I last posted! I actually stopped because I got a bad case of self-consciousness and thought that my writing was terrible and that I should stop. But the other week I saw that people were actually wanting me to finish this story so that gave me my confidence back THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I am so appreciative!! Plus Reylo has taken over my life again because of TLJ and I have always had an ending for this story in my head so I would really like to try and finish it!


	7. Chapter 7

As twilight settled on Niima Outpost two small creatures made their way to Unkar Plutt’s booth, their faces completely covered by gas masks. There was no one waiting in line so they walked straight up, stopping further enough away so that Plutt could see them from his higher position.

 

“Well,” began Plutt, “what did you find out?”

 

“Rey and the boy just spent the whole day scavenging” one of the creatures answered in one of the Jakku languages, his voice electronically distorted by the mask. Plutt could not speak the language but luckily he could understand it, just as the creatures could understand him.

 

“Scavenging? That’s it? Didn’t they at least go to the boy’s starship at some point?”

 

“No.”

 

_If he didn’t have his own starship then he must have been a stowaway on one of the trade starships_ , thought Plutt. But he had asked around, and had also gotten others to ask around for him, and no one confessed to bringing a human with the boy’s description onto Jakku, let alone one who owned a black mask.  

 

Plutt threw the creatures a quarter portion each and told them to leave. They scurried away, grateful that Plutt had kept his word.

 

Plutt suddenly remembered all the gossip around Niima Outpost at the moment regarding the First Order. Scavengers kept seeing stormtroopers hanging around a large area north of here looking for something.

 

Or maybe they were looking for _someone_?

 

Maybe they were looking for a traitor of the First Order, or a captured member of the Resistance who had somehow escaped?

 

Someone tall with dark hair and no doubt with a sizeable ransom on his head.

 

Plutt looked over at the black and silver helmet that he made sure never left his side, knowing it would come in handy. He decided to contact the First Order as soon as the last trader for the day left his booth.

 

***

 

“I couldn’t see any weapons on it, but there are places on the body where you could attach them if you wanted.” Rey and Ben were lying on the sand outside the AT-AT, staring at the stars and trying not to think about how hungry they were. For Rey nights like this were a common occurrence and so she was used to going without food. She assumed that Ben was not and so she was trying to distract him by telling him all about the quadjumper that she had seen at Niima Outpost a few weeks ago.

 

She was also feeling like part of this was her fault.

 

Soon after she had started searching the higher levels she had suddenly felt the whole atmosphere of the starship change somehow, as if some sinister creature had followed them in. She was going to climb back down and check on Ben when she heard a loud bang and then the feeling went away. _I’m just imagining things again_ she’d thought, but she couldn’t stop herself from worrying about Ben. She was so distracted that she wasn’t able to scavenge as quickly as she usually did. This was a problem, as she knew that Ben would never find anything, as she had thoroughly searched the bottom of this starship twice already and only found one part worth taking to Plutt. Unfortunately she was right, and now they had been forced to go without food.

 

“I’d like to see how fast it could fly,” she continued, “you only need one pilot.”

 

“Is that what you wanted to be Rey? A pilot?”

 

Rey turned her head to see that Ben was leaning on his arm half sitting up looking at her, his features only just visible under the weak moonlight. “Yes, or a starship technician. How did you know?”

 

“You talk about starships so much that I figured you would enjoy flying them.”

 

“Flying them, pulling them apart, putting them back together and then flying them again,” she laughed. She was going to ask him what he thought he used to be before he was left here on Jakku, but of course she knew that he wouldn’t be able to answer her.

 

He smiled at her and she smiled back before returning her gaze to the night sky.

 

She sighed. If she owned her own starship she would fly through all of space and over the surface of every planet, with her parents beside her.

 

And with Ben beside her too.

 

Rey turned her head to look at Ben again and saw that he had lain back down on the sand. He was so sweet to her, he made her loneliness go away.

 

She thought about the night she had found him, how she had somehow felt him calling to her to help him. It made her feel as if they were always supposed to meet, and if he had not been left there for dead then they would have just met on some other night, or day, on this planet or another.

 

They were lying so close to each other, she wondered what he would do if she held his hand. Would he pull his hand away or wrap his fingers around hers?

 

What if she kissed him, what would he do?

 

“Rey, if someone wanted to leave Jakku how would they go about it?”

 

Rey could feel the blood drain from her face. Ben started to turn his head to look at her again so she quickly looked away, not being able to look him in the eye.

 

“Any trade starship will probably give you passage in exchange for labour,” she said quickly.

 

That seemed to be all the information he needed so they fell into silence again.

 

Rey turned over onto her side to face away from Ben so he couldn’t see the tears that were starting to fall.

 

He was planning to leave and could be gone tomorrow for all she knew. He had no reason to keep living like this when he was free to go at any time.

 

Maybe they were always meant to meet but not to stay together.

 

 ***

 

_“FIND HIM!” roared Snoke, his voice echoing around the room, “this is your last chance General! I know any number of your subordinates would be more than happy to take your place!”_

 

The words were going around and around General Hux’s mind. He was standing on the bridge of The Finalizer, looking at the sand planet below.

 

Hux’s scheme had not gone to plan. The Supreme Leader was convinced that Kylo Ren was still alive, that he could still sense him through The Force. Hux believed that Snoke was simply in denial and could not accept that one of his more valuable pawns was no longer on the board.

 

On the Supreme Leader’s orders Hux had sent a number of excavation missions to the ever-changing landscape of Jakku to find Ren’s body. However he had told the Stormtroopers to not waste much time or effort on their task before heading back.

 

But now Snoke wanted Hux to go down to Jakku personally and oversee a much thorough dig on the site, as if Ren was somehow still alive underneath all that sand.

 

For all the Supreme Leader’s wisdom Kylo Ren’s death had blindsided him and was distracting them all from the real work that needed to be done.

 

“General?” a voice behind him broke him from his train of thought.

 

“What?” he asked the lieutenant sharply as he turned around.

 

“Sir, there is a message for you from Unkar Plutt of Jakku.”

 

“And who is he?”

 

“I don’t know, Sir, but he says that he knows the whereabouts of the person we are looking for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the longish wait!
> 
> Also I just want to thank my lovely tumblr friends reylosbond and bogglesthemindhuh for proof reading this fic!!


	8. Chapter 8

Hux stared at Kylo Ren’s helmet, turning it in his hand to make sure it looked genuine. He was standing at the back entrance of a booth owned by a man called Unkar Plutt, listening as the junk boss explained to him how he had come to own the helmet. When he had finished recounting his story Plutt then demanded payment for the information he had just given.

 

Hux looked up at him accusingly. “And how do I know that you’re telling the truth? How do I know that a man fitting that description did indeed sell this helmet to you? This man is supposed to be dead. You could have easily found the body yourself and stolen the helmet, making sure to remember what the man looked like.”

 

Despite seeming to completely doubt Plutt’s story, Hux was rattled by what he had just heard. Overnight he had overseen a thorough dig of the site where Ren’s body should have been but they had found nothing, and now someone had apparently seen him alive and well. He gave the helmet back to Plutt. “If you want payment then you will have to bring the man to me alive or lead me to where his body is buried.”

 

“I saw him alive. Come back here this afternoon and see for yourself.” Plutt was almost pleading with him now. “He will probably come here to barter for food, he would have run out by now.”

 

Hux didn’t like the idea of having to come back to this filthy and archaic outpost but what if Plutt was telling the truth, and that’s why they hadn’t been able to find a body? What if Ren was somehow still alive, just biding his time before he was ready to return to the First Order and tell Snoke what had really happened?

 

Hux couldn’t take the chance.

 

“Fine. I will return again in a few hours.”

 

***

 

Niima Outpost was busy by the time Rey and Ben arrived. Dragging their net of scavenged parts behind him, Ben followed Rey to a table, grateful that they had found something today. “We need to clean everything first or else Plutt won’t offer any food for these parts.” Rey grabbed some pieces and then sat down and started to clean so Ben did the same.

 

They fell into an easy silence, both of them concentrating on the task in front of them. Ben’s mind soon started to wander as he went over and over what had happened last night and this morning, hoping that he was not misinterpreting things. But after Rey had explained to him how to trade for passage off Jakku she had turned away as if she was angry with him for wanting to leave. And then this morning she had looked surprised and then happy when he had asked her where they were going to scavenge that day.

 

Was she starting to think of him as a friend, someone she would want to keep in her life? If he asked, would she at least _consider_ leaving with him? The thought that Rey might be by his side when he boarded one of the trade starships pleased him to no end.

 

He decided that tonight he was going to ask her to run away with him to a new life, one where they were happy, fed and safe. And in this new life he would make sure that Rey knew how much he loved her, and maybe she would love him back.

 

But his plan for the future crumbled away as quickly as it had appeared, making his heart sink. Even if she at least thought of him as a friend, it still wouldn’t be enough.

 

_You wouldn’t be enough. Ben is never enough_.

 

The words shot painfully across his mind. Rey froze and Ben was worried for a split second that he had spoken those words out loud as well, until Rey quickly returned to scrubbing the metal piece she had found.

 

Ben pushed the words to the back of his mind, hoping they would stay there.

 

After a few minutes some creatures came and sat further down the table from them. Ben stopped what he was doing and listened. From their tone it sounded like they were talking about something exciting, but Ben didn’t understand their language and so he couldn’t tell for sure. He was about to turn his attention back to cleaning the part he held in his hand until he heard the words “First Order” and “Stormtroopers”.

 

“Rey, what are they talking about?” Ben asked, covertly pointing to the creatures sitting closest to their left, hoping she could understand them.

 

Rey sat and listened for a moment before she leaned towards Ben to translate.

 

“Apparently there have been a few sightings of First Order Stormtroopers on Jakku lately. They’re trying to figure out what they’re doing here. ”

 

“Who are the First Order?”

 

“They’re tyrants who want to control everything and everyone in the galaxy” she said matter-of-factly.

 

“Why do you think they’re on Jakku? Does the First Order have a base here?”

 

“Apparently there are some abandoned and obsolete Imperial bases somewhere on Jakku, but I haven’t heard of the First Order using them. They’re more likely looking for something important in one of the fallen starships. Although if it was valuable enough for the First Order to be here then they are wasting their time, I’m sure whatever it is would have been found and bartered away long before now.”

“Kylo Ren”

 

Ben looked over at the creatures when they said that name, recognising it instantly. “I know that person.”

 

“Who?” Rey asked, following Ben’s line of sight.

 

“That person they just mentioned. Kylo Ren. Who is he?” Panic started to wash over Ben. He knew that name, knew that person somehow, but he wished that he didn’t.

 

“I don’t know” Rey replied, looking up at him, “I’ll ask them.” She waved at the creatures to get their attention and then started to talk to them in their language.

 

“What did they say? Who is Kylo Ren?” Ben asked when Rey and the creatures had finished talking.

 

She looked up at him again with confusion on her face. “He’s a very high ranking member of the First Order.”

 

Ben could sense that that wasn’t all. “And?”

 

“And…he’s also a nightmare come to life”.

 

Ben stood up quickly. He could feel the blood draining from his face and the panic turn to cold fear. “Ben, are you OK?” Rey asked, “Do you remember something? Is he the man who tried to kill you?”

 

“I don’t know, I just know that I need to stay away from him.”

 

He closed his eyes and tried to remember. He saw a group of people covered head to toe in black standing in front of him. In the memory he looked down and saw that he was holding a weapon that was spitting flames.

Ben felt two arms circle his waist and a warm body press against him, forcing the memory to fade away. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Rey hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her and suddenly fragments of what looked like his future appeared before his eyes, with a Rey who was in love with him in every single piece.

***

 

Behind Ben and Rey, across the Jakku sands, Kylo Ren’s starship had come to land just on the outskirts of Niima Outpost. It was sleek and black, not like the old beat up starships that usually landed at Niima. Hux had been using the coveted craft ever since the night Ren had died. Or supposedly died. Hopefully today Hux would finally have an answer.

 

The landing ramp lowered and Hux walked out, alone. He made his way to Plutt’s booth again, hoping that Plutt had changed his story and would take Hux to show him Ren’s grave.

 

There was a long line of scavengers lined up in front of the booth when Hux arrived but it didn’t worry him. He simply walked up to the front of the counter and interrupted the scavenger who was currently bartering with Plutt.

 

“Is he here?”

 

“Yes. Someone let me know when they arrived.”

 

“They?” Plutt had never mentioned that Ren was with someone. But then Hux realised that Ren probably couldn’t survive on this worthless planet alone, he must be using The Force to manipulate someone into helping him.

 

Plutt looked annoyed with himself. Obviously he had been trying to hide the existence of Ren’s helper for whatever reason. “He’s with a girl. Try not to hurt her too.”

 

“Where are they?”

 

“They’re probably still cleaning their scavenged parts” Plutt pointed to a very busy part of the tented area.

 

Hux quickly looked at the creatures going about their business where Plutt had indicated but he could not see Ren.

 

All day he had been thinking about how to kill Ren, and for good this time. He had come to the conclusion that his original plan that he had used on the night he had shot Ren was still the only option. Hux had to surprise him when he was distracted, to make sure he could shoot Ren through the heart before Hux got his throat crushed. And the less witnesses the better. Shooting him in the back as he was riding away from Niima might work. “I’m assuming they arrived here on a vehicle, where is it?”

 

Plutt called a small creature over and told him to lead Hux to “the speeder”. The small creature nodded and motioned for Hux to follow him, back out into the glaring sunlight. 


	9. Chapter 9

Rey held their precious two quarter portion dinner in her hands as she and Ben finally left the tented area for the slightly less busy walk to the speeder. They might have been able to leave earlier if Plutt hadn’t slowed them down by asking questions about Ben again, instead of discussing the parts that Rey had placed on the counter. Ben just stood there silently while Rey had told Plutt to mind his own business.

 

Rey wondered if now was a good time to break the awkward silence that they had fallen under since they had held each other.

 

And Rey had seen their future.

 

The images had flashed across her mind the moment she felt Ben’s arms wrap around her. The scenes were filled with people she couldn’t quite make out, they were like shadows but somehow Rey knew not to be afraid. They weren’t strangers, they were her family, and Ben was always there too, loving her.

 

The vision broke when Rey had heard a noise right near them and she had opened her eyes to see someone trying to steal their metal parts.

 

“Hey!” she had broken away from Ben’s arms and chased the scavenger away. When she had walked back to the table she had seen that the thief had managed to steal some pieces, but not all of them. They still had enough for two quarter portions.

 

Ben had just watched her, clearly not knowing what to say. In the end they had both just sat silently down at the table and finished cleaning the parts that remained.

 

She wanted to know if Ben had seen the same things that she had.

 

“Ben…” she started, looking up at him as they walked.

 

“Yes?” When his eyes fell on her she remembered the way he had looked at her in the vision, and the way he had spoken to her and touched her. She quickly looked down to inspect the portions, feeling her face grow hot.

 

“Did you-“ Rey stopped herself, “never mind.” This was silly. Of course he hadn’t seen the same things she had. She was hot and hungry and for the first that she could remember someone had shown her some sort of affection, making her imagination run wild.

 

“What is it Rey?”

 

“Its nothing.” She decided to never mention the vision to Ben.

 

Unless one day it somehow came true.

 

Rey broached the subject of Kylo Ren instead, hoping that talking about him wouldn’t upset Ben. “So, about Kylo Ren…”

 

“What about him?”

 

Rey looked up at Ben again and tried to gauge his mood. He didn’t seem to mind her mentioning that name again so she continued.

 

“You must have had a run in with him…maybe he is the one who left you here?”

 

“Maybe.” He ran his fingers through his hair, something Rey had noticed that he did quite often when he was stressed. “I just wish I could remember what happened that night”.

 

If Kylo Ren was the one who had tried to kill Ben it made Rey wonder why such a high-ranking officer had done the task himself, instead of having a subordinate do it. It made it so personal, as if Ben had really made Kylo Ren angry.

 

And then the idea hit her.

 

“Maybe you are with the Resistance and you were working for the First Order as a Resistance spy, but they caught you?” Rey walked out in front of Ben now. She turned to face him but instead of stopping she started to walk backwards excitedly. “Maybe you are a Resistance hero?”

 

He smiled warmly at her and was about to answer when something behind her caught his eye and fear flashed across his face.

 

As if in slow motion Ben dropped their now empty net and raised his arm straight out in front of him as Rey heard a blaster go off behind her.

 

She expected to see blood start to drip down the front of Ben’s tunic but when she didn’t see any she looked down at herself instead. With confusion she saw that she hadn’t been shot either.

 

She turned around to see a fiery blaster bolt frozen in mid air only a metre or so from them. Behind it was a man dressed all in black, with slicked back red hair and the blaster in hand. The few scavengers walking nearby stopped and looked at the floating ball of fire with a mixture of disbelief and awe on their faces.

 

Ben pulled Rey out of the line of fire and let the bolt continue its trajectory straight into the tented area. Rey heard screaming and turned around to see people running out to see who had fired the shot.

 

Ben stood in front of Rey like a shield, facing the man. Rey dropped the portions on the ground and slid the strap that held her staff off her shoulder, positioning the weapon in front of her. The man put down his blaster, realising that it was useless to him now. He went to say something but Ben cut him off.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Shock crossed over the man’s pale features. He stood there silently for a moment, as if he was thinking very carefully about his answer. In the end all he gave was a definitive “no.”

 

“But you just tried to kill us!”

 

“I thought you were the traitor that we have been looking for, but I was mistaken.” The man turned and started to walk away.

 

“Wait!” Ben started to follow him. “Are you sure you don’t know me?”

 

“Very sure” the man answered, his back still to Ben. And with that the man continued on his way as if nothing had ever happened.

 

But something had happened, because there was now a large group of people behind them and a thousand questions swirling around Rey’s mind.

 

 

***

 

 

So many people were staring at them now. Ben was frozen to the spot, unable to move under the gaze of so many eyes. He was about to grab Rey’s hand so as they could run to her speeder but he froze as people’s thoughts started to fill up his mind. It was such a jumble of overlapping questions in different languages that he could only grasp the fragments that he could unerstand.

 

_-blaster shot-_

_Who is he? How could-_

_I almost got hit-_

_What sort of human can-?_

_-did he stop that-?_

 

_-those people do really exist-_

Ben quickly focused on that last voice, pushing all the other voices away. He followed that thought to its owner, and when he found them he pushed into their mind, to the memory currently playing in their head. He saw a campfire of people listening to an old man as he talked about the past. The old man had seen people call objects to them and make them float. The image was clouded by feelings of scepticism and tiredness, but it didn’t matter because the memory told him that this man’s name was Lor San Tekka.

 

The feeling of Rey’s hand grabbing his own broke the connection. “I think we should get out of here.”

 

Ben picked their net back up and ran with Rey back to her speeder. People didn’t follow and Ben could feel that it was mostly out of confusion and fear.

 

As the speeder started to pick up speed Ben wrapped his arms tightly around Rey’s waist and lay his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes.

 

He could control blaster fire and push into people’s minds to see their thoughts and memories. He now realised that he was also probably responsible for Plutt’s sudden obedience that day they had traded his helmet for food.

 

He did all of it.

 

Invaded and controlled.

 

What _was_ he?


End file.
